DreamWorks kicks off online talent search

DreamWorks today said it will expand its talent searches
by reviewing MP3 tracks submitted over the Web.

Unsigned acts can post samples of their work to DreamWorks Digital A&R. The
site, which is associated with DreamWorks Records, limits
bands to one submission every three months and requires musicians to give
DreamWorks permanent, nonexclusive distribution rights for all submissions.

Partnering with DreamWorks are Launch.com and HarmonyCentral.com, which
will build co-branded sites offering the same service.

Today's announcement is the latest sign that the MP3 revolution will not overthrow the music establishment, but rather will
be absorbed by it.

Pioneering companies such as MP3.com have created platforms for unsigned
acts to sell and promote music without turning to record labels, which
typically front the high marketing costs associated with creating hit
albums. But few unsigned artists have risen above the crowd to win a mass
following, suggesting that the role of labels as key middlemen between
artists and their fans will not be supplanted anytime soon.

"Advancements in connectivity, compression and bandwidth are streamlining
record company practices across the board. (Searching for talent) is no
different," Jed Simon,
who oversees new media at DreamWorks, said in a statement. "For us,
accepting digital submissions is the logical next step in exploiting the
technology.''

DreamWorks is following major labels in tapping the Web for talent.
Seagram's Universal Music Group last year launched FarmClub.com, an online
record label founded by Doug Morris, Universal Music's chairman, and Jimmy
Iovine, co-chairman of Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M banner.